Malava Constituency is an electoral constituency in Kenya. It is one of twelve constituencies in Kakamega County. The current MP of the constituency is David Athman Ndakwa. The constituency was established for the 1988 elections.
Electoral history
ElectionsMP PartyNotes 1988 Joshua Mulanda Angatia KANU One-party system. 1990 MN. S. Anaswa KANU By-elections, one party system. 1992 Joshua Mulanda Angatia KANU 1997 Soita Shitanda FORD-Kenya 2002 Soita Shitanda NRC 2007 Soita Shitanda NFK 2013 Moses Malulu Injendi MDP2017Moses Malulu Injendi JP2022Moses Malulu InjendiANCDied on 17 February 20252025David Athman Ndakwa UDABy-elections held 27 November 2025.
Wards Malava Constituency has seven wards, namely; South Kabras, Butali/Chegulo, Manda-Shivanga, Chemuche, Shirugu-Mugai, West Kabras, and East Kabras. As of 2022, there are 94,417 registered voters. + WardsWard Registered VotersChemuche 14,139 Butali/Chegulo 15,146 Manda-Shivanga 14,677 South Kabras 16,523 Shirugu-Mugai 12,238 West Kabras 11,699 East Kabras 9,995 Total 94,417 *As of 2022
2025 By-election A by-election was held on 27 November 2025 after the death of Moses Malulu, re-elected as MP during the 2022 general election. David Ndakwa won the by-election with 21,564 votes under a UDA ticket, ahead of DAP-K's Seth Panyako with 20,210 votes.
Criticisms of the electoral process were raised by various groups. The Election Observation Group (ELOG) raised concerns of electoral fraud involving violence, harassment, and political interference across the various by-elections held in November 2025. In Malava constituency, ELOG highlighted clashes between supporters of different political groups, and unauthorised access to polling stations by unaccredited individuals.
Members of the opposition alliance Azimio la Umoja also expressed concerns around the election result and some called for an invalidation of results. Trans-Nzoia Governor George Natembeya of the DAP-K party expressed concerns about the status of the by-election as free and fair, stating that is was characterized by voter intimidation and vote-buying. On 30 November 2025, leader of the WPF, Kalonzo Musyoka, announced plans to challenge the results of the by-election, claiming that the Government of Kenya intimidated, suppressed, and bribed voters. However, Musyoka did not end up officially challenging the election result. Two voters launched a petition to the Kakamega High Court on behalf of second-place candidate Seth Panyako to invalidate the election results on grounds of alleged violence, voter intimidation, bribery, interference by public officials. The case included footage of Higher Education Principal Secretary Beatrice Inyangala campaigning for David Ndakwa while giving out food aid. On 15 May, the High Court in Kakamega ruled against the petitioners, stating that there was insufficient evidence to nullify the by-election results.
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